Change of Heart
by theyre after my lucky charms
Summary: Alternate Universe. Hermione and Draco never got along. But, a certain someone experiences a change of heart once he receives a piece of information regarding a certain brunette. What shocks him the most, however, is his reaction. Rated T for swearing


She couldn't believe this. It was absolutely ludicrous. How could this happen? And why did this have to happen to her?

Due to a shortage of rooms and an uneven numbers of males and an uneven number of females at college, Hermione had been selected as the extraneous females to share a room with the extraneous male. And, you know, that could have been great. On her way to the school earlier in the year, she had imagined maybe a gay guy. She'd always wanted a gay best friend. It would have been so much fun. It might have even been better than rooming with a girl.

But, of course things weren't going to go smoothly. They never do. Ever. But what made this roommate the worst was his… mere existence.

His name was Draco Malfoy. Hermione had to admit that he was one of the most attractive men that she had ever seen. He was built perfectly, buff in all of the right places and slender in all of the proper areas. His jaw line was absolutely flawless and his bleach blonde was sticking out in all of the right directions. It was sex hair, something that Hermione was a sucker for.

But, as attractive as Draco was, he had one of the most obnoxious attitudes that Hermione had ever witnessed. He was a cocky bastard. He could get any girl that he wanted, and he knew it. His ego would make Hermione suffocate in their room sometimes. His attitude would counteract his attractiveness. It truly was a shame.

At the moment, Hermione was sitting on her bed in their dorm room. It was a Saturday night and Draco had yet to come back to their room. There were Saturdays when Draco wouldn't come back to their dorm. In fact those were more Saturdays, he wasn't in the dorm. Whenever he was, Hermione was genuinely surprised. He would usually come home around three in the morning, though. At least he had the tact to not bring a girl into their room. Hermione was pretty sure that that was the only relatively nice thing that Draco had ever done.

It was currently midnight, and Hermione was watching some movies on Netflix while simultaneously writing some random romantic snippet. Her friends decided to go to a party, but Hermione was not in the partying kind of mood tonight, so she stayed in. Suddenly, the door to her room opened.

"… And that is why there's no way in hell that that will ever happen!" Draco was laughing, finishing some anecdote to his buddies. His head was still outside, but his feet were already inside. "Nah, I don't think I'll go tonight. I might just stay in." There was some mumble in response. "Dude, just shut up." Eventually, Draco closed the door.

"It's a Saturday night," Hermione pointed out once Draco had officially entered the room. He just turned towards her and nodded. "And it's barely midnight…"

"You know, now I see how you got into the school!" Draco laughed, teasing Hermione.

"Haha, you're so funny," Hermione spoke sarcastically. "But, seriously, you're here in the dorm and it's a Saturday night and it's not three in the morning yet. This never happens. Ever."

"How do you know I get in at three in morning? Are you in love with me or something? Stalking my every move?"

"Yes, Draco, yes. I stay up every Saturday night waiting for you to make your presence known by crashing in at least one thing with the volume of a dinosaur roaring. Totally stalker-ish, right?" Hermione shook her head and then looked back down at her computer. God, he was so vain.

"See, I knew you loved me," Draco smirked before falling onto his bed. "But, actually, the parties tonight that I would be willing to go to suck. I'll find more amusement stuck in a room with you than at those parties."

Hermione rolled her eyes. She was beginning to have enough of his arrogance and his constant insulting her. It stopped being amusing to her ages ago.

"Boo hoo. Draco's standards are too high and he can't bring them just a little bit lower to, once again, fuck a stranger."

"Are you calling me a man-whore?"

"No, I'm just calling your efforts a cry for help."

"Well, it's no better than you, sitting alone in a room on a Saturday night. What, poor 'Mione didn't get invited to any parties?" Draco feigned a pout to mock Hermione even more.

"Actually, it was a choice. I simply don't feel like going out."

"Uh-uh. That's what all of the losers who don't have a social life say to make themselves feel better." Draco smirked.

Hermione had had enough of this. Without a response, she grabbed her phone, the key to the dorm room and her laptop and headphones, quickly pulled on her shoes and stormed out of the room, slamming the door behind her out of complete frustration. She was going out now, was he happy? To the library, yes, but "out" nonetheless.

"Whoopsies!" Draco laughed to himself.

Suddenly, the door opened once again. Draco expected it to be Hermione again, saying she forgot something and being the sheepish girl that she is, but, instead, walked in Harry.

Harry was one of the more popular guys in school. He was best friends with Ron, who was Hermione's boyfriend, but they had been really good friends for ages already. What Ron saw in her, Draco had no idea. Harry and Draco got along relatively well. Well, at least they didn't hate each other.

"Hermione?"

"She just left. Probably went to go beg to get into some party." Draco laughed.

"Actually, she's been invited to loads of parties tonight. She just didn't want to go because of recent events, and I totally understand her."

"Wait, what recent events?" Draco was genuinely surprised that Hermione had some form of a social life, so he sat up on his bad, throwing his legs off of the edge.

"Oh, you haven't heard? It's all over the grapevine. Hermione caught Ron shagging Pansy in a supply closet this morning. Cliché, right?" Harry tried to chuckle, one hand making fun of Ron, but feeling so sorry for his friend.

Draco was actually in quite shock. He was getting this strange feeling… He couldn't put his finger on what it was called…

Remorse.

Hermione had just gotten her heart shattered today, and he was such an ass to her. He usually was, but he hadn't realized how bad of a day it was today. No wonder she stayed in their room tonight…

"Oh goodness, that sounds horrible."

"Yeah, so I'm trying to find her to cheer her up a bit. But I can't seem to find her anywhere. Do you have any idea where she might be?"

"Um, well, she stormed off with her laptop and headphones in hand, so maybe some place where that could be useful? The common room, or the library?"

"Alright, I'll check those. Thanks for your help, man."

"Sure, no problem."

"Oh, and also, I know that you and Hermione love to bicker, probably just built up sexual frustration," Draco's eyes widened at the accusation. "But, please, be a little bit softer on her, just for a little while, while she heals just a little bit."

"I was already planning on laying off, don't worry."

"Thanks, Draco. I'll see you around."

When Harry left, Draco crashed against the pillows. He had no idea why he felt so terrible. He understood that there was remorse because he had really bad timing with being an ass, but there was something mixed in with his emotions of guilt.

It was sympathy. He had this urge to find Hermione and hold her until she cries. And then he had this other urge to go find Ron and deck him. Maybe break his nose. It's the least that rat bastard deserved.

He felt that he shouldn't push anything onto Hermione, he'd just wait for her to come back.

Draco probably fell asleep, but, being the light sleeper that he was, he was woken up by the simply clicking of the door to wake up. He saw light stream in from the hallway and saw Hermione's silhouette enter the room. Once the door was closed, Draco reached over and turned on the lamp on his side table, noticing that it was 2:30 in the morning at the moment.

"Holy shit, Draco, you scared me." Hermione exclaimed, placing her hand on her chest in an attempt to calm down her heartbeat.

"Why didn't you tell me about Ron?" Hermione was taken aback by, not only how straightforward the question was, but also by how gently Draco had spoken. Not in his usually cocky tone, but in a soft "you have my sincere apologies" tone.

"What?"

"Ron, about what happened this morning. I wouldn't have been such an ass to you." Draco sat up, ready to make his way over to Hermione if she suddenly broke down.

"I figured that you wouldn't have cared."

"Well, maybe I would have."

"I don't need your sympathy, Draco."

"I don't care. I'm giving it to you anyways."

Hermione paused to process what Draco had just told her. He was _sympathetic_ towards her? This was so weird. And completely out of the blue.

"Where is this coming from? Why are you all of a sudden nice to me?" Hermione questioned.

"Since I've spent my first Saturday night all alone, cooped up in our dorm room. Surprisingly, you can get a lot of thinking done. Maybe that's why you're so wise."

Did Draco Malfoy just compliment her? Hermione felt like she was being thrust into the twilight zone. This was so bizarre!

"I think I'm going to go to bed now." Hermione trailed off.

"Alright, but if you need to talk, I feel like I should fulfill the proper role of a roommate, so I'll be here. If you ever need to talk, I'm here."

"Um, thanks, Draco. I appreciate it. Good night." Hermione slid under the covers.

"Good night, Hermione."

Hermione fell asleep with confused thoughts about Draco. Draco fell asleep with sympathetic thoughts to Hermione.

The next day, Hermione seemed perfectly fine. Had Harry not told Draco anything about Hermione and Ron, he wouldn't have noticed anything. This kind of worried Draco.

Draco was shocked at himself. He had managed to completely change his attitude towards his roommate overnight. He always thought that she was a pretentious, smart ass, uptight girl that he would have sarcastic banter with and would occasionally go out of his way to annoy her. But now, he was noticing all of these little things about her. Like how her brown and wavy hair fell in front of her face, making her seem like a beautiful mess. Or how, when she yawned, she made this adorable noise resembling a kitten meowing.

They still went their separate ways, but they didn't want to claw each other's eyes out for the first morning in history. In fact, they actually shared an awkward smile when passing each other in their room. They mumbled civil "good mornings" to each other. Things were becoming pleasantly weird.

Things were somewhat back to normal. Hermione went back to pretending that Ron didn't exist, like she did before they started dating. An entire year wasted on that bastard. Shame.

But lunch time that on a Monday three weeks from that night was where everything went crazy. Hermione had definitely entered the twilight zone then.

Hermione had just thrown out her tray and was heading back to her friends' table in the cafeteria. Her path was interrupted when Ron stepped in her way.

"You're in my way." Hermione looked down. She refused to look him into the eyes, afraid that she would lose all of her dignity because of the anger she had towards. She wasn't as sad as she was disappointed in Ron. She had finally become aware that he wasn't the guy that she had fallen in love with. _Quelle surprise._

"Come on, baby, don't be like that." Ron tried to drape his arm over Hermione's shoulders, but she stepped back.

"I'm not your baby. And you are fully aware of that. Now, move." Hermione tried to keep her voice calm.

"Hey, it's not my fault I had to cheat on you." That was the final straw. Hermione looked up at with rage in her eyes.

"It's not your fault? Please, dear sir, enlighten me as to how it's not your fault." Hermione crossed her arms over her chest, raising an eyebrow. She knew how to keep her voice quiet and her tone in control, so it was only Ron that was really creating a scene, losing his dignity while she was gaining some.

"I'm a _man_, 'Mione. I have needs! You wouldn't fuck me, so I had to get my satisfaction somewhere else!" Ron explained, as if it was totally okay.

"Well, thank god I didn't fuck you. That would have been a waste of my time, you ass hole. Just like this conversation, which is now over." Hermione then began to walk by, closing the chapter of Ron. That is, before he grabbed her wrist tightly and pulled Hermione back in front of him, making her hiss from pain.

"You are not going anywhere, 'Mione," Ron practically growled at her. This was a side that she had never seen before.

"Let her go."

Hermione turned her head around only to see Draco standing a yard behind her, glaring intensely at Ron.

"And who are you to tell me what to do?" Ron shouted at Draco. He was making _such _a fool of himself.

"Someone who has Hermione's best interest at heart, unlike you. Seriously? You 'must go get your needs satisfied somewhere else'? That's legitimately the worst excuse in the world." Hermione was staring at Draco in awe, watching his image as a player shed in front of her very eyes.

Ron let go of Hermione's wrist, allowing her to fully turn around and look at Draco.

"Seriously? You think that my girl is going to choose you over me?" Ron laughed.

"Yeah, I actually am," Hermione said as she walked over to Draco, smiling at him in gratitude.

"Really, 'Mione? Have your standards lowered that much?" Ron laughed again. Then, it looked like he had an epiphany. "Oh! You're totally faking this relationship to make me jealous! No need, 'Mione, I'm totally willing to take you back!"

No one had said anything about relationships, but the fury in Hermione's mind might have clouded her judgment concerning what she was about to do.

Hermione turned around, placed her hands on Draco's cheeks and pulled his head towards hers, crashing his lips onto hers.

Wow. This was some kiss. Draco's arms automatically wrapped around Hermione's waist, even though he was still in shock. His heart was in overdrive, beating insanely. He hadn't realized how long he had been waiting for this kiss. Maybe Harry was right when he said that he and Hermione argued because of sexual frustration…

Hermione's hands left Draco's face as she draped one arm over his shoulder and let the fingers of her other hand tangle themselves with the hairs on the nape of Draco's neck.

This kiss was better than any that Hermione had ever had. It was most definitely better than Ron's kisses.

Somewhere in the back of her mind, she thought that she heard Ron say something along the lines of "no fair!" and then storm off like the little four year old boy that he really was.

Unfortunately, when oxygen became a priority, Hermione pulled back and looked at Draco.

"Thanks," she said breathlessly.

"Anytime."

"_That_, Ron, dearest, is not something you can fake," Hermione gently untangled herself from Draco and shot him one last smile before heading off back to her table, brushing past a Ron who looked like he was about to go into cardiac arrest.

Draco stood there for a moment, watching her, before smiling to himself and sitting back down, prepared to face that wrath of his friends.

Later that day, Draco had a free period and knew where Hermione had her class. They also had chemistry together the next period, so he might as well walk her to class and ask her what he's been dying to ask all day, but hoping to have the chance to ask since she turned him down in front of most of the student body freshman year.

When Hermione walked out of her English class, she was surprised to see Draco leaning against the wall across the hallway, smirking at her. She slung her messenger bag over her shoulder as Draco made his way towards her.

"Hey, there," Hermione greeted him curiously.

"Hey. Ready for class?" Draco asked, while gesturing with his arm in the general direction of the chemistry room.

"Sure, let's go."

They walked in silence for a few moments until Draco spoke up.

"So, I have this crazy idea…" he trailed off, keeping up his confident façade, however.

"And what is this crazy idea of yours?" Hermione turned her head to the blonde.

"We've kissed, many people in the cafeteria think that we're dating, but we haven't been on a date yet. I think that we should fix that." Draco smiled. He didn't smirk, but he genuinely smiled.

"And what exactly did you have in mind?"

"Well, dinner, and maybe catch a movie. Or we can do something somewhat original and go bowling."

"Bowling sounds fun."

"So… will you go out with me?" Draco was slightly nervous about asking her out. He had realized how long he had wanted this for and wasn't exactly prepared to be turned down.

"I'd love to." Hermione smiled at him and blushed, looking down so that Draco wouldn't see. But he did. And it made him feel all giddy inside knowing that he was the one who caused her to do so.

Draco slid his arm around Hermione's waist as they continued walking down the hall towards class.

**Read and review, please! Much appreciated **


End file.
